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Loyalty to country part of Islam

Religious extremism has no place in society – Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad

The Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat, Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad has repeated his call for Muslims the world over to show loyalty to their respective countries. In a speech delivered before thousands of Ahmadi Muslims in London he said that love and loyalty to one’s country was a fundamental principle of Islam. His Holiness also spoke with regret about the widespread problems faced by Pakistan. He said the fundamental cause for its current state was a failure to maintain a separation of religion and State. In particular, extremist elements had permeated all segments of society.

Speaking about the current situation in Pakistan, His Holiness said that every day there was news of killings, protests and strife. The entire country had become engulfed in discord. He said that the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat had always counselled the Pakistani leaders to maintain a distance from extremist elements. However out of a fear of losing their grip on power the majority of leaders had failed to heed such warnings and had involved themselves with various forms of negotiation and deals with the extremist religious right. He said that any system that bowed down to such religious elements was bound to fail and lead to turmoil and despair.

It was the duty of every Ahmadi Muslim to profess love to his chosen country. Each Ahmadi Muslim had an obligation towards working for a better future for his country and his fellow citizens. Citing Pakistan as an example he said Ahmadis were treated as inferior citizens and had suffered the most barbaric cruelty, however this had never stopped them from being utterly loyal to the nation. He said that Pakistan had been founded upon the sacrifice of thousands of lives and the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat would always do its utmost to make sure that those lost lives were not taken in vain. He said:

“As citizens of any country, we Ahmadi Muslims, will always show absolute love and loyalty to the State. Every Ahmadi Muslim has a desire for his chosen country to excel and should always endeavour towards this objective. Whenever a country requires its citizens to make sacrifices the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat will always be ready to bear such sacrifices for the sake of the nation.”

His Holiness continued:

“We feel pain and distress when any nation suffers and we share the grief and pain of others. Thus whenever any country faces difficulty we try our utmost to alleviate their suffering. That is what the founder of Islam, the Holy Prophet Muhammad, taught us. It was the Holy Prophet who counselled that you should put your own pain to one side in an effort to alleviate the suffering of all of mankind. It is thus that the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat is involved in spreading humility, love and kindness.”